Community helps raise £70k to build forces tribute

The organisation behind a memorial wall in Armagh to honour members of the security forces killed during the Troubles has raised over £70,000 in 12 months - thanks to the generosity of the local community.

The organisation behind a memorial wall in Armagh to honour members of the security forces killed during the Troubles has raised over £70,000 in 12 months - thanks to the generosity of the local community.

County Armagh Phoenix Group Ltd (CAPG) - which supports former members of the security forces who were victims of the Troubles - hopes to reach the fundraising target of £100,000 by the end of this year.

Designed by local architect Sharon Johnson, the 90ft wall will be built from locally quarried Armagh stone in St Mark's Churchyard. It will bear the names, rank and date of death of over 300 members of the security forces who were killed.

"We've identified 316 names," the group's chairman David Hammerton told the Belfast Telegraph. "The criteria was that they had to have died as a result of a terror attack and had to be either from County Armagh and killed somewhere else in the province or they were killed here in the county as a result of a terror attack."

Willie Frazer, of Families Acting For Innocent Relatives (FAIR NI), said the wall was an important memorial.

"People need to remember what happened," he said.

"This wall shows the amount of hurt and suffering there was in this area."